


Birthday Wishes

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: California Dreaming [10]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having seen and heard so much, too much, in his close to six decades on earth, he never expected to hear this.  Three cheers for life still being able to knock him on his ass in a good way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Wishes

The doorbell rang and both Frump and Goldie ran toward it, happily barking. They loved visitors but weren’t exactly used to them. Kids came and went, and so did social workers, but not often people stopping by to say hello. Jason walked to the door and smiled when he saw who was on the other side.

“Hi there.”

“Hello.”

He unlocked the screen door; Paloma walked over the threshold. She had two large brown paper bags that she placed on the carpet. Jason pulled her close and she closed her eyes. Their first kiss was soft, the second one deeper and more passionate. Paloma ran her hand through the back of his hair and down the nape of his neck. When Jason shuddered it made her smile. He kissed her smile.

“Hello again.” She whispered.

“I know it sounds overly formal to keep thanking you for the little things you do for me and the kids.” He said. “I just don’t know what else to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything Jason. When you care about someone, you do for them when they need you. I know it’s hard to get a babysitter on Friday evenings. Besides, it'll give me a chance to spend some time with the kids and finish the last preparations for the party. That’s what's in these bags.”

“You're amazing.”

“So kiss me again.”

He had no problem doing what she asked. Jason found that the problem was learning how to stop kissing her, or to stop thinking about kissing her. Paloma was under his skin and it actually felt good. He ran his hand across her back, leaning in one more time. Then the twins ran down the stairs. Paloma was surprised that while Jason put some distance between them, he kept his arm around her waist.

“Hey Paloma!” they said in unison.

“Happy birthday!” she exclaimed. They came to hug her, hugging Jason at the same time.

“Are those gifts for us?” Tameka asked of the bags she carried.

Paloma just smiled at them. They looked ready for a fun birthday dinner. Tameka wore a pink tulle skirt with pink flip-flops, white tee shirt with Birthday Girl written in pink glitter, and a tiara over her braids. Tashima was more subdued than her sister. She looked comfortable in denim capris and a red tee shirt. She wore flip-flops as well…most California kids did from May until late September.

“I’ll bring the presents tomorrow for the party.” She said. “You'll be more excited if there's more to open.”

“I'm never going to turn down gifts.” Tashima said.

“Our party is gonna be super cool right?” Tameka asked.

“It’s not gonna be super cool.” Paloma smiled as she shook her head. “It’s going to be the teenage event of the summer. When you guys go back to school at the end of the month, kids will still be talking about it. Those who weren’t invited will clamor to be remembered for your 14th birthday.”

“Sweet.” Tashima smiled.

“Have a great evening.”

“See ya later.” Gideon kissed her cheek and then left with the twins.

Paloma went into the den with her bags. Cameron was eating tortilla chips and playing video games. The television was on mute but the radio played the local classic rock station. She immediately recognized Bad Company.

“Hey Paloma!” he didn’t even look up.

“Hi Cam. Where is everyone?”

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “Maddie is upstairs doing Maddie stuff I guess. Me and Pumpkin are just enjoying the quiet.”

“You don’t mind if I join you, do you?”

“Nope. Do you wanna play? I can turn the next round into two player.”

“Not right now.” Paloma shook her head. “I need to finish getting some stuff together for the girls’ party tomorrow. I might want to play later though.”

“Cool.” Cameron nodded.

She sat at the other end of the sectional couch. Digging into the paper bags, Paloma pulled things out and began to organize them on the coffee table. She had to fill the piñata, put together the paper lanterns, and fill the goody bags. It could keep her busy the whole time she was babysitting.

“I should check on everyone before I get too busy.” She stood from the couch again.

“Can I get a soda, Paloma?” Cam asked.

“What would Gideon say?”

“Um...probably no.”

“I'm going to have to agree. You can have water though. I know Gideon keeps vitamin water in the fridge.”

Cam nodded but didn’t move from his spot as Paloma headed back to the living room and up the stairs.

***

“Is Paloma your girlfriend now?” Tashima asked as they pulled into The Pit parking lot.

“Yes she is.” Jason nodded.

“That’s awesome!” Tameka said from the backseat. “She's wicked cool, Gideon. You two are going to be the best couple ever.”

“I agree with your assessment that she is wicked cool. I enjoy spending time with her and, surprisingly, she feels the same way.”

“It’s gonna be a little tough to get some play with five kids around.” Tameka said as they got out of the car. “I'm just saying.”

“Play?” Jason raised an eyebrow.

“Oh c'mon Gideon,” Tashima said. “We’re talking about sex.”

“Sex is an integral part of a blossoming relationship.” He said. “When I was your age my father described it to me this way and I've never found a better explanation. Relationships are like your favorite kind of cake. It takes many ingredients to make it rich, satisfying, and fulfilling. Sexual intimacy is the icing on the cake. It’s delicious and can be decadent but without cake it has little purpose. 

“You want to enjoy everything together, as it’s meant to be. I know that’s an old-fashioned way to view it but I'm an old-fashioned guy. There's nothing wrong with the two of you having different views as you grow up. I'm just here to do my best to lay a foundation. That’s what I was taught when I was your age.”

“I get it.” Tashima nodded.

“Me too.” Tameka said. “So I guess I should say that it’s gonna be tough to get icing with five kids around.”

The girls broke into a fit of laughter as they hostess showed them to their table. Jason just smiled, shaking his head. As of today they were officially teenagers. Let the adventure begin.

000

“OK, we didn’t just call you here to get barbecue on our birthday.” Tashima said. “That’s pretty cool but there is something we want to talk to you about.”

“I figured as much.” Gideon put his fingers together like a steeple. “What's up?”

He tried to keep his stomach from dropping while waiting for the girls to answer. The waitress had come for their dinner orders. Tashima sipped on a caramel milkshake. Tameka had a chocolate peanut butter shake and Gideon had raspberry iced tea. Last night he had difficulty sleeping so he lay in bed thinking about the million things they might say to him. So many things filtered through his brain but Jason never grasped just one.

“In some cultures, thirteen is considered an adult.” Tashima said. “That includes in Judaism. It’s when you start making big decisions about the rest of your life. I know the 21st century is a little different but I think you know what I mean. Tameka and I sat down and we talked with Jake. It wasn’t easy since he’s hard to talk to unless it’s about girls, skateboards, or comics. The three of us decided together that we want you to be our dad.”

“We wanna be adopted.” Tameka said. “We wanted to talk about it because we’re not sure if it’s something you want. You're the only person who cares about us, Gideon. You gave us a safe place to live. You’ve braided our hair and dealt with long hours shopping for like three things. You're the only dad we have and we don’t wanna lose you.”

“Even though we asked for big stuff for our birthday when you asked us what we wanted, honestly if you didn’t buy us anything this would be what we wished for when we blew out the candles.”

“Oh. Oh wow,” Jason didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t often speechless. Having seen and heard so much, too much, in his close to six decades on earth, he never expected to hear this. Three cheers for life still being able to knock him on his ass in a good way. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I really hope you don’t say no.” Tameka said.

“I…I wouldn’t.” he shook his head. “I never thought I would have more children. I have a son, he's older and we don’t talk very much. A million circumstances are reason for that but it’s my fault as well. None of it falls on Stephen. I have no idea how I ended up here. 

“Here with five kids, three dogs, three cats, and now a girlfriend. The past five years since I drove away from Quantico are a blur. I have to admit they're a much better blur than my last five years in Virginia. You guys coming into my life, staying, brought me a peace and stability I was sure I’d never have again. Things had gotten so bad at one point that I started believing that I never had them.”

“Is this the big speech before you say no?” Tashima asked.

“I don’t quite know what to say.”

“Is that no?” Tameka was horrified.

“No, no sweetheart, it’s not no. Um…”

Dinner arrived just then. The waitress put down the plates and Jason thanked her. They all shook their head when she asked if they wanted anything else. As excited as the twins were to go to The Pit, they didn’t touch their food as the waitress walked away.

“I would love to be your father.” Jason said. He needed to get his wits about him and speak.

“Geez Gideon, you scared me there for a moment.” Tameka put her hand on her chest.

“I don’t know how good I’d be at it, but I love you guys very much. We’ve been a family for quite some time.”

“You're a great dad.” Tashima said. “We wouldn’t ask you to keep us if you sucked. We’d just hold out until our 18th birthday and then get out of dodge.”

“And please don’t feel like you have to say yeah just so you won’t hurt our feelings or something.” Tameka said.

“I'm saying it because I love you.” Jason said.

“Are you going to adopt us?” Tashima asked.

“I'm going to look into the process. I've wanted to for a while now but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want Cam or Maddie to feel left out. I didn’t want certain events in my past life to affect how I'm seen now. They may think I'm a good foster dad but a bad candidate to be an adopted father.”

“They'd be dumb if they thought that.” Tameka said in a matter of fact tone.

“And we've discussed the nervous breakdown…I mean major depressive episode.” Tashima said. “That doesn’t change what you’ve been to us.”

“Neither does the PTSD.” Tameka said. “People shouldn’t be judged for the bad things that happened to them. You’ve risen above it…you're teaching us the same thing.”

“Should I even ask how you two know those things about my past?” Jason bit into his burger.

“Google.” Tashima said. “We Googled you like forever ago and we don’t care about any of that. I mean we care; we want you to be OK. Nobody is perfect and you took us in and loved us when you didn’t have to care at all. Maybe you didn’t even mean to care but you did and you do. If the adoption people don’t see that then they’re the ones who are nuts.”

He nodded, telling the girls not to let their dinner get cold. Tashima smiled over her barbecued spare ribs while Tameka just looked at her barbecue bacon cheddar burger, which was almost the size of her head. The slowly began to eat, sharing some of the things on their plates while keeping some others to themselves. They even let Gideon try the ribs. He smiled and wanted to reassure them. They were just kids; he knew what kind of limb they stepped out on by bringing this up.

“Everything will be OK guys. We came out tonight to enjoy ourselves and I want to make sure that we do. It’s your birthday; I know you want it to be happy. I do as well.”

“I wore my birthday girl shirt in hopes that there would be free dessert.” Tameka said.

“That was a good plan.” Gideon said.

“I want a triple scoop sundae with extra caramel.”

“I could probably eat one of those as well. What do you want, Tashima?”

“I definitely want one of those chocolate cookie cake thingamabobs. They are awesome!”

***

“Jake kept to himself most of the evening.” Paloma took the small kettle and poured water in both of their tea cups. “I checked on him a few times; he mostly listened to music and drew. Cam and I played some video games and Maddie helped me make goody bags and fill the piñata.”

“You guys stayed busy tonight.”

“Mmm hmm,” she nodded. “Did you guys have a nice dinner?”

“Yes. They got their free dessert so all was right with the world. I paid for mine and now I'm stuffed but it was great.”

“Did they talk to you, Jason? If you don’t want to discuss it with me I understand. I just know that you were worried about it.”

“I don’t mind discussing it with you.” Jason put his hand on top of her as Paloma lit a clove. The sweet smell of black cherry filled the air. “The girls told me that they had discussed it with each other and with Jake. They want me to be their father.”

“Really?” her brown eyes lit up. “Jason, that is so wonderful.”

“I knew you were going to say that.”

“Should I say something different?”

“No.” he shook his head. “A thousand crazy ideas filled my mind. I had trouble sleeping last night because I couldn’t stop thinking about what they might want to discuss. I never saw it coming.”

“Do you feel good about it?” Paloma asked.

“I want to. I love those kids a lot. We've all been family for years now. There were dark times for me; times when I didn’t know if struggling to make it was worth it. With them in my life I've got to keep going. I have to live and be there for them. In being there for them I get to be there for myself as well, if that makes any sense. 

“I used to have an antique desk in my BAU office in Quantico where I kept framed pictures of people whose lives were saved by the work I did.” He said. “Upstairs on my bedroom wall I keep pictures of so many kids who’ve come through the house on Ashley Drive. If there's ever another time when I think life might not be worth living, I can look at them. They saved my life as much as I've saved theirs.”

“I keep pictures up in my cubicle as well.” Paloma said. “I know that feeling. When you just don’t know if you can do it anymore, you look at those pictures. You realize that you’ve changed lives, saved lives, and you keep going through the rough patches. Are you going to begin the adoption process?”

“I want to.” Jason replied.

“But…?”

“No, there's no buts. I just don’t want them to tell me that I'm unfit. Adoption is different from fostering.”

“That’s true, it is.” She nodded. “But foster to adoption is a smoother process. You’ve got plenty of caseworkers and civil servants to speak on your behalf. Also, the kids are teenagers. 

“The courts listen to their opinions on where they want to be placed. I have a friend, Rebecca, she’s a child advocate. If you want me to contact her then I will. I've got your back, Jason.”

“I really appreciate that. After the party and all that excitement maybe you can do that and we can talk about my options.” He picked her hand up and held it to his lips. 

Then he leaned over and kissed her. When Paloma stroked his beard Jason couldn’t help but sigh. When her hands were on him, anywhere, his emotions nearly reached giddiness. As they moved apart, Paloma sipped her tea with one hand and smoked the clove with the other. She smiled at him.

“As much as I want to go into the den and make out like teenagers, I should probably go soon. I want to get up early tomorrow and take a run before it gets too hot. Then I’ll make the deviled eggs. I should be here by 12:30 to help set up for the party. My cousin will be here a little after one to set up his DJ equipment. I'm pretty excited about this. I know I'm not as excited as the girls but I'm excited.”

“I see it in your eyes. Paloma, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” Finishing her tea, Paloma finished her clove and smashed it in the small ashtray on the table. Jason got that ashtray for her. That meant something.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable but maybe you can stay tomorrow.” Jason said.

“Stay?”

“Stay with me…stay the night.”

She didn’t even know how to respond. Paloma’s first instinct was to jump in his lap and say yes. She quashed it before it happened. She wanted to; wanted to more than anything. But she couldn’t just think about herself or Jason. There were five kids there as well, ranging in age from seven to almost 15. It was important that none of them feel uncomfortable in their own home because of the carnal urges of people who should know better than to be controlled by such things.

“I would love to but I'm not sure it’s the right thing to do.”

“So you want me to ask the kids?” Jason asked.

“That’s the last thing I want you to do.” Paloma laughed a little.

“I'm putting too much pressure on.” He said.

“No, really, you're not. You know how I feel about you, Jason. I want to stay. I just want to make sure that we do this right…for us and for the kids.”

“You don’t need to give me an answer tonight. Just think about it and we’ll talk after the party. This isn’t about sex Paloma, it doesn’t even have to happen. I just…I want to go to sleep holding you and wake up doing the same. I admit to not being able to get that off my mind recently.”

“Yes.” She was breathless when she said it. How could she not be after hearing him say that?

“I'm sorry?” Jason leaned in a little more, as if he hadn’t heard her.

“I said yes.”

“And I'm smiling.”

“Yes, you are.” Paloma reached out to stroke his cheek. Jason put his hand on top of hers. “I want to hold you too. Making sure it’s right is important to me though.”

“I understand that feeling. I also know that sometimes you just have to fly by the seat of your pants and see where the night takes you. It’s just been such a long time since I've even wanted to do that.”

“I think I’ll have one more clove for the road. If that’s alright with you, I mean.”

It was fine with Jason. He wasn’t thrilled that Paloma smoked but it wasn’t a pack a day habit. There had been someone else in his life who smoked cloves once, never more than a few a day. The smell sometimes took Jason back to another time, back to her, but he kept that to himself. That was another life and he lived this one now. 

He lived this one and was flourishing. Good things were happening, Paloma was one of those good things. Jason wanted to enjoy his time with her; make more time for her. Tomorrow would be a good day. Feeling that deep in his heart and soul, Jason was able to take a deep breath, relax, and see where the night took him.

***


End file.
